The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responding to journalists’ questions about the president’s visit to Armenia, said that the president would make a brief visit to Yerevan on Friday, October 16, to attend the 17th Summit of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. He added that talks and exchanges of views with some of the participating heads of state and government were also scheduled on the sidelines of the summit.Explaining the importance of the international convention for the protection of nature and the environment worldwide, Baghaei said the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was established in 1992 and currently has 196 parties. He noted that all countries except the United States are parties to the convention.Baghaei stressed that Iran was among the original signatories of the convention and officially became a party to it in 1996. Over the past three decades, Iran has also played an important role in developing mechanisms and rules related to the protection of biodiversity and the environment.Referring to the damage inflicted on Iran’s and the region’s environment, including the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, during the US and Israeli regime’s military aggression against Iran, Baghaei emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran would use every opportunity to document and explain the crimes committed against the environment.In response to another question about the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku, Baghaei said the Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the important and influential countries in West Asia, was participating in the seventh CICA Summit, which was being held in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan, on October 15.Highlighting the importance of Iran’s active participation in international events to explain the country’s positions and ensure its influence on the drafting of documents and the adoption of decisions at international meetings, Baghaei stressed that effective and assertive participation in international diplomatic events was part of the foreign policy apparatus’s approach. He added that Iran’s continued participation in CICA meetings was based on the same principle.Baghaei noted that, in view of the schedules of the president and the foreign minister, the deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs was attending the seventh CICA Summit as Iran’s representative.Explaining the background and significance of CICA, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the organization was a regional multilateral forum established around three decades ago at Kazakhstan’s initiative to promote peace and stability in Asia through confidence-building among countries. It currently has 27 member states and 10 observer states, while eight international and regional organizations, including the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), cooperate with it as partner organizations.The Foreign Ministry spokesperson also announced that the foreign minister would travel to Baghdad on Saturday and Sunday, October 17–18, to attend the annual meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).